Neil Gaiman accuser files case alleging sexual assault, human trafficking

Madison, Wisconsin: A New Zealand woman has filed three civil lawsuits accusing best-selling British author Neil Gaiman of repeatedly sexually assaulting her while she was working as his family’s babysitter and nanny.

Scarlett Pavlovich has filed the lawsuits – one against Gaiman and his wife, Amanda Palmer, and two more against Palmer – in federal court in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New York.

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer at the premiere of Good Omens in London in 2019.Credit: WireImage

Pavlovich identified herself in an interview with New York Magazine, which published an article in January detailing allegations of assault, abuse and coercion levelled by eight women.

In the lawsuits, Pavlovich alleges she was homeless and living on a beach when she met Palmer in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2020. Pavlovich was 22 at the time.

According to the lawsuits, Palmer invited Pavlovich to the couple’s home on Waiheke Island. Pavlovich began running errands for the couple, babysitting their son and helping with chores, eventually becoming the couple’s nanny.

Gaiman first sexually assaulted her the night they met in February 2022, according to the lawsuits. The assaults continued, but she kept working for the couple because she was broke and homeless, and Gaiman had told her he would help her writing career, according to the documents.

Pavlovich alleges that when she told Palmer about the assaults, Palmer said more than a dozen women had told her in the past that Gaiman had sexually abused them.

The assaults didn’t stop until Pavlovich told Palmer she was going to kill herself, the lawsuits said. She left the family and became homeless again, although the documents say Gaiman eventually paid her for her work caring for the couple’s child and helped cover her rent for a few months.

Palmer knew of Gaiman’s sexual desires and presented Pavlovich to him, knowing he would assault her, according to the lawsuits. Pavlovich alleges Gaiman and Palmer violated federal human trafficking prohibitions and is seeking at least $US7 million ($11.1 million) in damages.

After the New York Magazine article was published, Gaiman released a statement in January denying he had ever engaged in non-consensual sex. The allegations of four of the women were previously broadcast in July in a Tortoise Media podcast.

“I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever,” Gaiman posted on the social media platform Tumblr.

Representatives for Gaiman and Palmer did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and online court records did not list attorneys representing them in the suits. Pavlovich’s attorneys stated in the filings that Gaiman, author of such bestsellers as Coraline and The Sandman series, lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin. But they’re unsure if Palmer resides in Massachusetts or New York.

Pavlovich told New York Magazine that she filed a police report in January 2023 accusing Gaiman of sexual assault. Police have not confirmed whether Gaiman was ever under investigation.

Two of the numerous publishers who have worked with Gaiman over the years, HarperCollins and W.W. Norton, have said they have no plans to release his books in the future. Others have so far declined comment.

Dark Horse Comics announced in January that it would no longer release its illustrated series based on Gaiman’s novel, Anansi Boys. The seventh of eight editions was released earlier that month.

Disney has paused a planned adaptation of Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, while Netflix is still scheduled to release a second season based on The Sandman.

Gaiman and Palmer married in 2011 but announced their divorce in 2022.

AP